Weight loss during incubation

[KaldakurFarm]

Hi!

(First hatch!) I have an incubator on day 16 if you count the day I put them in as day 1 (it was 4/21/15, not sure if that's correct numbering or not). I weighed my eggs at the start and they averaged 50.75g. I weighed them this morning and they averaged 45.5 for an average loss of 10.34%. The air cells when I candled at day 7 looked like the egg picture I've seen with the days and how big the air sac should be. I am going to candle again tonight to make sure everything is still good - but does that seem like an appropriate amount of weight lost? I expected the weight loss to be a bit more at this point. My incubator ran in the low 20's for humidity until this week when I've had it up around 29%. I bumped it up because I thought it might be a little dry, but after weighing the eggs I wonder if I did the right thing. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[WVduckchick]

Hi!

(First hatch!) I have an incubator on day 16 if you count the day I put them in as day 1 (it was 4/21/15, not sure if that's correct numbering or not). I weighed my eggs at the start and they averaged 50.75g. I weighed them this morning and they averaged 45.5 for an average loss of 10.34%. The air cells when I candled at day 7 looked like the egg picture I've seen with the days and how big the air sac should be. I am going to candle again tonight to make sure everything is still good - but does that seem like an appropriate amount of weight lost? I expected the weight loss to be a bit more at this point. My incubator ran in the low 20's for humidity until this week when I've had it up around 29%. I bumped it up because I thought it might be a little dry, but after weighing the eggs I wonder if I did the right thing. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

I weigh my eggs too. You are actually on day 15. You do not count the first day as day 1. Day 1 starts 24 hours after setting. Kinda like a human baby is not a year old until after 12 months of life. If you set chicken eggs on a Friday, then due date will be a Friday. You are talking chickens, right? 10.34% is great for day 15. I shoot for 5% a week. Looking back at my last spreadsheet, I weighed on day 14, and had 9-12% (I weigh each egg and don't average them, but I only had 18 eggs) 4 of my eggs were clear, 14 went into lockdown, and 10 hatched. So in my opinion, you are good!

 

[KaldakurFarm]

I weigh my eggs too. You are actually on day 15. You do not count the first day as day 1. Day 1 starts 24 hours after setting. Kinda like a human baby is not a year old until after 12 months of life. If you set chicken eggs on a Friday, then due date will be a Friday. You are talking chickens, right? 10.34% is great for day 15. I shoot for 5% a week. Looking back at my last spreadsheet, I weighed on day 14, and had 9-12% (I weigh each egg and don't average them, but I only had 18 eggs) 4 of my eggs were clear, 14 went into lockdown, and 10 hatched. So in my opinion, you are good!

Awesome, thanks for the info WVduckchick. I am incubating chicken eggs, guess I should have mentioned that ! I thought that if you started on a Tuesday you ended on a Tuesday... but somewhere I saw someone say day one was when you started. 24hrs makes more sense to me. Thanks for the clarification. Happy to hear I'm still on track. I am using a Genesis 1588 with auto turner, I probably should have mentioned that too. Not sure if still air and forced air are different. Thanks again!

 

[WVduckchick]

Awesome, thanks for the info WVduckchick. I am incubating chicken eggs, guess I should have mentioned that ! I thought that if you started on a Tuesday you ended on a Tuesday... but somewhere I saw someone say day one was when you started. 24hrs makes more sense to me. Thanks for the clarification. Happy to hear I'm still on track. I am using a Genesis 1588 with auto turner, I probably should have mentioned that too. Not sure if still air and forced air are different. Thanks again!

Great!! Glad to help. Good luck, and keep us posted! You are very close to having cute little fuzz butts!!!

Forced air and still air only make a difference when looking at temperature. Weight loss is roughly the same for all bird eggs. Incubation length makes a difference if you are calculating weekly, daily, whatever. That's why I clarified chicken. Like duck eggs take an extra week to hatch, so their weekly weight loss would be less because they have more time to lose it.